This invention relates to tubes.
The invention is more particularly concerned with reinforced tubes, such as for medical or surgical use.
It is known for medical tubes to be reinforced by the inclusion of a helical reinforcing element. Such a helical reinforcing element helps to reduce the risk that the tube will be occluded by lateral forces and thereby enables the tube to have a thinner wall. Although such a reinforcing element increases crush resistance, compared with an unreinforced tube, the reinforced tube is still susceptible to crushing where a lateral force is exerted in a region narrower than the pitch of the reinforcing element. The tube is also still susceptible to kinking if the tube is bent around a small radius. Examples of reinforced tubes and their manufacture are described in GB2043201 and GB 2321095.